System and method for data center security enhancements leveraging managed server SOCs

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATIONS

0001This application is a Continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 14/334,178, filed Jul. 17, 2014, which is a Continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 13/475,722, filed May 18, 2012, which claims priority from Provisional application U.S. Application 61/489,569, filed May 24, 2011; U.S. application Ser. No. 13/475,722 is also a Continuation-In-Part of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/794,996, filed Jun. 7, 2010, which claims priority from Provisional application U.S. Application 61/256,723, filed Oct. 30, 2009, all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

FIELD

0002The disclosure relates generally to security aspects for data centers and in particular to data center security enhancements leveraging server systems on a chip (SOCs) or server switch fabrics.

BACKGROUND

0003<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 1A and 1B</figref> show a classic data center network aggregation as is currently well known. <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1A</figref> shows a diagrammatical view of a typical network data center architecture <b>100</b> wherein top level switches <b>101</b><i>a</i>-<i>n </i>are at the tops of racks <b>102</b><i>a</i>-<i>n </i>filled with blade servers <b>107</b><i>a</i>-<i>n </i>interspersed with local routers <b>103</b><i>a</i>-<i>f </i>Additional storage routers and core switches. <b>105</b><i>a</i>-<i>b </i>and additional rack units <b>108</b><i>a</i>-<i>n </i>contain additional servers <b>104</b><i>e</i>-<i>k </i>and routers <b>106</b><i>a</i>-<i>g </i><figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1<i>b </i></figref>shows an exemplary physical view <b>110</b> of a system with peripheral servers <b>111</b><i>a</i>-<i>bn </i>arranged around edge router systems <b>112</b><i>a</i>-<i>h</i>, which are placed around centrally located core switching systems <b>113</b>. Typically such an aggregation <b>110</b> has 1-Gb Ethernet from the rack servers to their top of rack switches, and often 10 Gb Ethernet ports to the edge and core routers. These typical data centers do not have good security.

0004The idea of network security is well known. The terms used in field of network security may include deep packet inspection (DPI) and intrusion prevention systems (IPS) which are also known as Intrusion Detection and Prevention Systems (IDPS) and are network security appliances that monitor network and/or system activities for malicious activity. The main functions of intrusion prevention systems are to identify malicious activity, log information about said activity, attempt to block/stop activity, and report activity. The network security may also utilize an intrusion detection system (IDS), which is a device or software application that monitors network and/or system activities for malicious activities or policy violations and produces reports to a Management Station.

0005<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 2</figref> shows a typical implementation of an IDS and IPS within a corporate network. In the typical implementation, the IDS is focused on detection, monitoring, and reporting of potential intrusions. As such, the IDS is implemented out-of-line of the core network flow and is not invasive (located outside of the firewall and attached to a DMZ switch as shown in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 2</figref>). The IPS adds the capability to prevent and block potential intrusion or undesired network flows and the IPS is implemented in-line of the core network flow.

0006Typical systems of a chip (SoCs) have security features, such as security zones. For example, ARM® processors and IP implement TrustZone as one layer of hardware, software, and system security. Further details of the TrustZone aspect of ARM® processors and IP can be found at http://www.arm.com/products/processors/technologies/trustzone.php and the materials located there are incorporated herein by reference. The security of the system is achieved by partitioning all of the SoC's hardware and software resources so that they exist in one of two worlds the Secure world for the security subsystem, and the Normal world for everything else. Hardware logic present in the TrustZone-enabled AMBA3 AXI bus fabric ensures that no Secure world resources can be accessed by the Normal world components, enabling a strong security perimeter to be built between the two.

0007The second aspect of the TrustZone hardware architecture is the extensions that have been implemented in some of the ARM® processor cores. These extensions enable a single physical processor core to safely and efficiently execute code from both the Normal world and the Secure world in a time-sliced fashion. This removes the need for a dedicated security processor core, which saves silicon area and power, and allows high performance security software to run alongside the Normal world operating environment. However, these SOC security features have not been effectively extended to the security of a data center.

0008Thus, it is desirable to provide a data center security system and method that leverage server systems on a chip (SOCs) and/or server fabrics, and it is to this end that the disclosure is directed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

0009<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 1A and 1B</figref> illustrate a typical data center system;

0010<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 2</figref> shows a typical implementation of an IDS and IPS within a corporate network;

0011<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 3</figref> illustrates a high-level topology of a network aggregating system that may be leveraged for increased security in a data center;

0012<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 4</figref> illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary switch of the network aggregation system that may be leveraged for increased security in a data center;

0013<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 5</figref> illustrates a network aggregation system with a network switch and enhanced security;

0014<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 6</figref> illustrates a four-node server fabric with a network switch and enhanced security; and

0015<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 7</figref> illustrates a small three-node server fabric with a network switch and enhanced security.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

0016The disclosure is particularly applicable to a Calxeda™ server system on a chip and Calxeda™ switch fabrics as illustrated and described below with the security aspects and it is in this context that the disclosure will be described. However, the principles described below can be applied to other server-on-a-chip systems.

0017A server-on-a-chip (SOC) with packet switch functionality is focused on network aggregation. It contains a layer 2 packet switch, with routing based on source/destination MAC addresses. It further supports virtual local area network (VLAN), with configurable VLAN filtering on domain incoming packets to minimize unnecessary traffic in a domain. The embedded MACs within the SOC do have complete VLAN support providing VLAN capability to the overall SOC without the embedded switch explicitly having VLAN support.

0018<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 3</figref> shows a high-level topology 800 of the network system that illustrates XAUI (a well-known interface standard) connected SoC nodes connected by the switching fabric. Two 10 Gb Ethernet ports Eth0 801a and Eth1 801b come from the top of the tree. Ovals 802a-n are Calxeda™ nodes that comprise at least one computational processors and an embedded switch. Each node may have five XAUI links connected to the internal switch. The switching layers use all five XAUI links for switching. Level <b>0</b> leaf nodes 802d, e (i.e., N<b>0</b>n nodes, or Nxy, where x=level and y=item number) only use one XAUI link to attach to the interconnect, leaving four high-speed ports that can be used as XAUI, 10 Gb Ethernet, PCIe, SATA, etc., for attachment to I/O. The vast majority of trees and fat trees have active nodes only as leaf nodes, and the other nodes are pure switching nodes. This approach makes routing much more straightforward. Topology 800 has the flexibility to permit every node to be a combination computational and switch node, or just a switch node. Most tree-type implementations have I/O on the leaf nodes, but topology 800 let the I/O be on any node. In general, placing the Ethernet at the top of the tree (the Ethernet ports) minimizes the average number of hops to the Ethernet.

0019The system and method also supports a routing using a tree-like or graph topology that supports multiple links per node, where each link is designated as an Up, Down, or Lateral link, or both, within the topology. In addition, each node in the system may be a combination computational/switch node, or just a switch node, and input/output (I/O) can reside on any node as described below in more detail. The system may also provide a system with a segmented Ethernet Media Access Control (MAC) architecture which may have a method of re-purposing MAC IP addresses for inside MACs and outside MACs, and leveraging what would normally be the physical signaling for the MAC to feed into the switch. The system may also provide a method of non-spoofing communication, as well as a method of fault-resilient broadcasting, which may have a method of unicast misrouting for fault resilience.

0020A data center with the Calxeda™ server system on a chip may be implemented using the set of fabric connected nodes with Ethernet uplinks as shown in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 3</figref>. Each node may be one or more Calxeda server boxes each of which has at least one Calxeda™ server system on a chip.

0021The system may also provide a rigorous security between the management processor cores, such that management processors can “trust” one another. In the example node <b>900</b> shown in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 4</figref> (which is described below in more detail), there is a management processor core within each SoC (block <b>906</b>, <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 4</figref>). The software running on the management processor is trusted because a) the vendor (in this case Calxeda™) has developed and verified the code, b) non-vendor code is not allowed to run on the processor. Maintaining a Trust relationship between the management processors allow them to communicate commands (e.g. reboot another node) or request sensitive information from another node without worrying that a user could spoof the request and gain access to information or control of the system.

0022Typically the management processor, block <b>906</b>, is running an embedded OS, while the multiple processor cores represented by block <b>905</b> are more typically running a standard operating system, such as Linux. The management processor would typically use one of the Ethernet MACs, in this case block <b>907</b>, while the main processors, block <b>905</b>, would utilize the remaining Ethernet MACs, in this case blocks <b>902</b> and <b>903</b>.

0023Each routing header unit <b>901</b>, that may be implemented as a processing unit or processor, prepends routing headers to layer 2 Ethernet frames to form a routing frame going into the fabric switch, and removes the routing headers as they leave the switch and enter standard Ethernet MACs. The routing frame is composed of the routing frame header plus the core part of the Ethernet frame, and is structured as shown in Table 1, below:

0024<tables id="TABLE-US-00001" num="00001"><table frame="none" colsep="0" rowsep="0"><tgroup align="left" colsep="0" rowsep="0" cols="1"><colspec colname="1" colwidth="217pt" align="center" /><thead><row><entry namest="1" nameend="1" rowsep="1">TABLE 1</entry></row></thead><tbody valign="top"><row><entry namest="1" nameend="1" align="center" rowsep="1" /></row><row><entry>Routing Header Prepended to Layer 2 Frame</entry></row></tbody></tgroup><tgroup align="left" colsep="0" rowsep="0" cols="2"><colspec colname="1" colwidth="56pt" align="center" /><colspec colname="2" colwidth="161pt" align="center" /><tbody valign="top"><row><entry>Routing Frame</entry><entry /></row><row><entry>Header</entry><entry>Ethernet Frame Packet</entry></row><row><entry namest="1" nameend="2" align="center" rowsep="1" /></row></tbody></tgroup><tgroup align="left" colsep="0" rowsep="0" cols="6"><colspec colname="1" colwidth="56pt" align="center" /><colspec colname="2" colwidth="35pt" align="center" /><colspec colname="3" colwidth="28pt" align="center" /><colspec colname="4" colwidth="35pt" align="center" /><colspec colname="5" colwidth="35pt" align="center" /><colspec colname="6" colwidth="28pt" align="center" /><tbody valign="top"><row><entry>RF Header</entry><entry>MAC</entry><entry>MAC</entry><entry>Ethertype/</entry><entry>Payload</entry><entry>CRC32</entry></row><row><entry /><entry>destination</entry><entry>Source</entry><entry>Length</entry><entry>(data and</entry><entry /></row><row><entry /><entry /><entry /><entry /><entry>padding)</entry></row><row><entry namest="1" nameend="6" align="center" rowsep="1" /></row></tbody></tgroup></table></tables>

0025The routing frame header (RF Header) typically consists of the fields shown in Table 2, below:

0026<tables id="TABLE-US-00002" num="00002"><table frame="none" colsep="0" rowsep="0"><tgroup align="left" colsep="0" rowsep="0" cols="1"><colspec colname="1" colwidth="217pt" align="center" /><thead><row><entry namest="1" nameend="1" rowsep="1">TABLE 2</entry></row></thead><tbody valign="top"><row><entry namest="1" nameend="1" align="center" rowsep="1" /></row><row><entry>Routing Header Fields</entry></row></tbody></tgroup><tgroup align="left" colsep="0" rowsep="0" cols="3"><colspec colname="1" colwidth="49pt" align="center" /><colspec colname="2" colwidth="28pt" align="center" /><colspec colname="3" colwidth="140pt" align="center" /><tbody valign="top"><row><entry /><entry>Width</entry><entry /></row><row><entry>Field</entry><entry>(Bits)</entry><entry>Notes</entry></row><row><entry namest="1" nameend="3" align="center" rowsep="1" /></row></tbody></tgroup><tgroup align="left" colsep="0" rowsep="0" cols="3"><colspec colname="1" colwidth="49pt" align="left" /><colspec colname="2" colwidth="28pt" align="char" char="." /><colspec colname="3" colwidth="140pt" align="left" /><tbody valign="top"><row><entry>Domain ID</entry><entry>5</entry><entry>Domain ID associated with this packet. 0 </entry></row><row><entry /><entry /><entry>indicates that no domain has been specified.</entry></row><row><entry>Mgmt Domain</entry><entry>1</entry><entry>Specifies that the packet is allowed on the </entry></row><row><entry /><entry /><entry>private management domain.</entry></row><row><entry>Source Node</entry><entry>12</entry><entry>Source node ID</entry></row><row><entry>Source Port</entry><entry>2</entry><entry>0 = MAC0, 1 = MAC1, 2 = MAC_management</entry></row><row><entry /><entry /><entry>processor, 3 = MAC_OUT</entry></row><row><entry>Dest Node</entry><entry>12</entry><entry>Desitnation node ID</entry></row><row><entry>Dest Port</entry><entry>2</entry><entry>0 = MAC0, 1 = MAC1, 2 = MAC_management</entry></row><row><entry /><entry /><entry>processor, 3 = MAC_OUT</entry></row><row><entry>RF Type</entry><entry>2</entry><entry>routing Frame Type (0 = Unicast, 1 = Multicast,</entry></row><row><entry /><entry /><entry>2 = Neighbor Multicast, 3 = Link Directed)</entry></row><row><entry>TTL</entry><entry>6</entry><entry>time to Live—# of hops that this frame has </entry></row><row><entry /><entry /><entry>existed. Switch will drop packet if the TTL </entry></row><row><entry /><entry /><entry>threshhold is exceeeded (and notify </entry></row><row><entry /><entry /><entry>management processor of exception).</entry></row><row><entry>Broadcast ID</entry><entry>5</entry><entry>Broadcast ID for this source node for this </entry></row><row><entry /><entry /><entry>broadcast packet.</entry></row><row><entry>Checksum</entry><entry /><entry>Checksum of the frame header fields.</entry></row><row><entry>Total</entry><entry>46</entry><entry>+checksum</entry></row><row><entry namest="1" nameend="3" align="center" rowsep="1" /></row></tbody></tgroup></table></tables>

0027The Routing Header processor <b>901</b> contains a MAC Lookup CAM (Content Addressable Memory) (MCAM), macAddrLookup, that maps from 6 byte MAC addresses to 12-bit Node IDs, as shown in Table 3, below.

0028<tables id="TABLE-US-00003" num="00003"><table frame="none" colsep="0" rowsep="0"><tgroup align="left" colsep="0" rowsep="0" cols="1"><colspec colname="1" colwidth="217pt" align="center" /><thead><row><entry namest="1" nameend="1" rowsep="1">TABLE 3</entry></row></thead><tbody valign="top"><row><entry namest="1" nameend="1" align="center" rowsep="1" /></row><row><entry>MAC Address CAM (MCAM)</entry></row></tbody></tgroup><tgroup align="left" colsep="0" rowsep="0" cols="3"><colspec colname="offset" colwidth="14pt" align="left" /><colspec colname="1" colwidth="98pt" align="center" /><colspec colname="2" colwidth="105pt" align="center" /><tbody valign="top"><row><entry /><entry>MAC Lookup CAM Input</entry><entry>MAC Lookup CAM Output</entry></row></tbody></tgroup><tgroup align="left" colsep="0" rowsep="0" cols="5"><colspec colname="offset" colwidth="14pt" align="left" /><colspec colname="1" colwidth="42pt" align="center" /><colspec colname="2" colwidth="56pt" align="center" /><colspec colname="3" colwidth="49pt" align="center" /><colspec colname="4" colwidth="56pt" align="center" /><tbody valign="top"><row><entry /><entry>Node Local</entry><entry>MAC Address</entry><entry>Node ID</entry><entry>Port ID</entry></row><row><entry /><entry namest="offset" nameend="4" align="center" rowsep="1" /></row><row><entry /><entry>1 bit</entry><entry>6 bytes</entry><entry>12 bits</entry><entry>2 bits</entry></row><row><entry /><entry namest="offset" nameend="4" align="center" rowsep="1" /></row></tbody></tgroup></table></tables>

0029The approach to security domain management in the system and method disclosed here is as follows: Support multiple domain IDs within the fabric. Allow each of the MACs within a node (management processor, MAC0, MAC1, Gateway) to be assigned to a domain ID individually (and tagged with domain 0 if not set). Allow each of the MACs within a node to have a bit indicating access to the management domain. The domain IDs associated with a MAC could only be assigned by the management processor, and could not be altered by the A9. For frames generated by MACs (both inside and outside), the routing frame processor would tag the routing frame with the domain ID and management domain state associated with that MAC. Domains would provide the effect of tunnels or VLANs, in that they keep packets (both unicast and multicast) within that domain, allowing MACs outside that domain to be able to neither sniff or spoof those packets. Additionally, this approach would employ a five-bit domain ID. It would add options to control domain processing, such as, for example, a switch with a boolean per MAC that defines whether packets are delivered with non-defined (i.e., zero) domain ID, or a switch that has a boolean per MAC that defines whether packets are delivered with defined (non-zero) but non-matching domain IDs. A further option in the switch could turn off node encoded MAC addresses per MAC (eliminating another style of potential attack vector). Each of these options described in this paragraph are options that are implemented in the fabric switch, controlled by bits in the control status registers (CSRs) of the fabric switch. Software initializes the CSRs to the desired set of options.

0030To keep management processor to management processor communication secure, the management domain bit on all management processor MACs could be marked. Generally, the management processor should route on domain 1 (by convention). Such a technique allows all the management processor's to tunnel packets on the management domain so that they cannot be inspected or spoofed by any other devices (inside or outside the fabric), on other VLANs or domains. Further, to provide a secure management LAN, a gateway MAC that has the management domain bit set could be assigned, keeping management packets private to the management processor domain. Additionally, the switch fabric could support “multi-tenant” within itself, by associating each gateway MAC with a separate domain. For example, each gateway MAC could connect to an individual port on an outside router, allowing that port to be optionally associated with a VLAN. As the packets come into the gateway, they are tagged with the domain ID, keeping that traffic private to the MACs associated with that domain across the fabric.

0031Unicast routing is responsible for routing non-multicast (i.e. unicast) packets to the next node. This is done by utilizing a software computed unicastRoute[ ] next node routing table that provides a vector of available links to get to the destination node.

0032Server Interconnect Fabric Security

0033The above server fabric and switch fabric can benefit by enhanced security and a number of techniques to leverage and extend upon server interconnect fabrics that have some or all of the characteristics described above to dramatically improve security within a data center are described. The different embodiments implement “packet processing” which may include a wide range of packet processing including, but not limited to: IDS functionality, IPS functionality, sFlow monitoring (wherein sFlow is a specification for monitoring computer networks set forth in an sFlow specification that is RFC 3176) Packet routing or bridging between networks, Deep packet inspection, Packet logging, Transparent VPN encapsulation, Packet encryption/decryption and/or Packet compression/decompression.

0034Use of Management Processor for Out-of-Band Security

0035A first embodiment relates to the use of management processor for out-of-band security. The integration of a separate management processor within the same SoC as the core application processors enables new classes of security. The enabling attributes of the management processor include:

0036Management processor running within Secure world security zone. Application processor running in Normal world security zone, although underlying secure hypervisors on the Application processor may have the ability to run in Secure world.

0037The management processor by running in Secure world has complete access to all the resources of the SoC including:

0038processor state of the application processor

0039debug control of the application processor

0040access to all memory and peripheral resources of the Soc

0041This technique allows the management processor running in Secure world to provide Out-of-Band (OOB), as seen by the application processors, communication between nodes to facilitate security/integrity monitoring services. These innovations include:

0042Since the management processor can access all SoC RAM, management processors on different nodes can compare portions of the DRAM on their nodes to identify unexpected changes to memory regions that are expected to not vary over time.

0043This facilitates not only security use cases, but also a dynamic fault discovery use case.

0044Live capture of a node's memory image, or parts of it, or signatures of it, for any purpose—troubleshooting, forensics, image migration, hibernation, by other management or application processors, or even by external systems. This OOB peek mechanism could be used to facilitate malware detection from a central location utilizing a management controller that just answers requests to fetch portions of memory, offloading the analysis to a computer with more resources.

0045This allows the malware detection engine to be free from modification attempts by malware—there isn't anything the malware can do to disable the “anti-virus” detection since the mechanisms are completely OOB and protected from the application processors.

0046Can be used in combination with code running on the application processor—application whitelisting, for example. The application processor can request the management processor to verify the authenticity of some code before running it. This should be more secure than white-listing code running in the kernel on the application processor, which is the current technique being used.

0047Isolation of Nodes that have been Security Compromised or are Malfunctioning

0048The second embodiment relates to the isolation of nodes that have been security compromised or are malfunctioning. There are cases where, though other known techniques not described herein, a determination has been made that a node needs to be isolated, including:

0049A security violation has been detected on a node, including a compromised OS kernel, a root kit, or a damaging virus.

0050There are also failure modes, both hardware and software, that could cause a node to fail in such a way that it is causing disruptive traffic on the server fabric.

0051Compromise detection is software driven, can come from any source including failures in remote attestation, malware detection, IPS/IDS built into the fabric, or external, manual operator control, management processor DRAM monitoring as discussed in Disclosure 9, and by other known means.

0052The following techniques can be used to isolate offending nodes:

0053The management processor can power off the application processor, or the offending peripheral.

0054The management processor can alter the security zone settings to software isolate the offending device or processor.

0055The management processor can alter the fabric MCAM, routing tables, or gateway node IDs to prevent the fabric from emitting potentially compromised packets into the fabric.

0056Use the Management Processor to Provide Controller/Device Virtualization for the Application Processors

0057The third embodiment relates to the use of the management processor to provide controller/device virtualization for the application processors. The management processor can be used to provide controller or device virtualization for the application processor for both local and remote devices using the following technique:

0058Use TrustZone or similar security zones to block access to a device from the application processors, and then have the application processor communicate to the management processor to access it. For example, the application processor could send a NAND read request to the management processor via IPC (Inter-Processor Communication channel), the management processor could approve or disapprove it, and then forward the request to the NAND controller protected in Secure world. The management processor can then return the status of the request to the application processor via IPC. This mechanism can be similarly used for other forms of access control and logging.

0059A network firewall, IPS, or IDS can also be implemented via this technique. The management processor can inspect packets before forwarding them to a MAC that is protected via Secure World.

0060Trusted Platform Module (TPM) services can similarly be provided by the management processor.

0061The management processor can take advantage of the server fabric when deciding what to do with requests to access devices—request remote authorization for example.

0062The management processor could log requests either locally or remotely.

0063Using the Management Processor to Provide a Secure Logging Path

0064The fourth embodiment relates to using the management processor to provide a secure logging path since keeping logs secure for audits is a significant aspect of most regulatory/financial compliance requirements. This can be accomplished using the following technique:

0065In traditional systems, the application processor would rely on logging to local storage, network storage, or communicating logging data to a remote server. With this technique, the application processor can send log messages securely to the management processor.

0066The logging mechanism of the management processor is thus completely decoupled and secured from the application processor.

0067The management processor then has multiple options for persisting the secured logging, including:

0068Logging to a central log server via it's secure management fabric domain

0069Log locally to private storage to the management processor

0070Log to other storage subsystems protected in the Secure trust world, not accessible to the application processor.

0071Use the Management Processor to Provide a Secure Auditing Path

0072The fifth embodiment relates to the use of the management processor to provide a secure auditing path. Instead of relying on the main network domain to the application processor to perform audits of systems, this technique will utilize the management domain to secure the audit processes.

0073Allows network audits to be done securely, in secure network paths.

0074As an example, part of an audit may be to perform a port scan of a system. This is relatively low bandwidth—instead of talking directly to the application processor over its normal data path, the request can be proxied via the management processor in a network-proxy type fashion.

0075In one implementation, the management processor can do this is a ‘dumb’ method, using techniques such as SNAT (secure network address translation) to ensure the responses are routed back through the management processor instead of out over the fabric.

0076Or the management processor can have local auditing control. An example of this implementation may include responding to a port scan request and generate the port scan traffic itself. An additional example is logging in via ssh to verify logs, file integrity, permission integrity, or similar auditing tasks.

0077Use the Management Processor to Provide Out-of-Band (OOB) Network Access to the Application Processor

0078The sixth embodiment relates to the use of the management processor to provide out-of-band (OOB) network access to the application processor. This technique extends the technique described above by using the management processor as a NATing router using the following technique:

0079An application processor may use a Ethernet controller (say MAC0) to communicate in its main ‘data path’—traffic sent out it is routed out via the fabric like normal, at line rate, not touched by the management processor.

0080An application processor can further use a second Ethernet controller (say MAC1) to communicate with external hosts via the management processor.

0081An extra MAC address can be associated with a node's management processor's MAC port so that any traffic sent to either of two MAC addresses goes to that port.

0082One of the MAC addresses can be used for normal IP traffic for the management processor.

0083The other can be recognized by special software on the management processor as being destined for the application processor.

0084The management processor can then do a NAT type change of the destination

0085MAC address of the packet so that the fabric switch will route it to MAC1, where the application processor will receive it. It can also change the source MAC address to the original destination MAC address of the packet, so that a response to the source MAC address will also be directed to the management processor's MAC.

0086The application processor side won't need any special software to support this.

0087Could potentially do this on not just the local application processor, but also over the fabric to other nodes. Could use a second application processor instead of the local management processor in that implementation.

0088Dynamic Security Zones for DMA Masters

0089The seventh embodiment relates to dynamic security zones for direct memory access (DMA) masters. With the ARM TrustZone implementation, as well as other security zone implementations, the DMA Masters, including independent DMA controllers as well as those found embedded in peripheral IP such as disk and ethernet controllers, are configured to either respond to the Secure world or the Normal world. IP vendors either hardwire this setting and don't allow you to change it, or offer a parameter to set it one-way permanently. The following technique extends the fixed relationship of DMA Master's to security zones:

0090A security zone register is added between the internal SoC fabric and each DMA master.

0091The security zone register is itself protected in Secure world so that untrusted master's can change it.

0092The security zone register provides the current security zone to the internal SoC fabric for that transaction.

0093This enables use cases including:

0094Static configuration of DMA master security zones at boot time. If a thread running in Normal world attempts to access a DMA master that is configured in Secure world than the thread will get an equivalent of a bus abort.

0095Ability for trusted hypervisors running in Secure world to dynamically change the visibility of DMA master's depending. This allows for some guest OS's to be able to directly access a DMA master while other's won't have visibility to it.

0096Secure Boot-Loading of the Application Processor by the Management Processor

0097The eighth embodiment relates to secure boot-loading of the application processor by the management processor. The management processor can bootstrap the application processor by preloading the application processor's boot-loader into DRAM prior to releasing the application processor from reset. This allows the management processor to completely control the contents of the application processors boot-loader, including whether or not the application processor exits secure world immediately and permanently, whether the application processor can selectively enter secure mode, and which interrupts it can service in secure mode only. It also allows the application processor's boot-loader to be cryptographically verified prior to loading it, to ensure the integrity of the boot-loader, or to insure the boot loader was signed by a proper authority. It also allows the application processor's boot loader to be stored in a location inaccessible to the application processor itself, which prevents the application processor from modifying it, while still allowing it to be updated via the management processor's secure channels. The management processor can use its secure management fabric domain to source the application processor's boot-loader dynamically on demand, or can retrieve new versions of it that can be stored in local non-volatile memory.

0098DMA Master Configurable Coherency

0099The ninth embodiment relates to DMA master configurable coherency. In traditional SoC implementations, a DMA master is designed to be either cache-coherent, or non-coherent. This design usually includes the following characteristics:

0100For a cache-coherent implementation, the DMA master is connected to a cache-coherency controller. As an example, in one ARM implementation, the DMA master would be connected via AXI to the Accelerator Coherency Port.

0101For a non-cache coherent implementation, the DMA master is connected via the SoC internal fabric directly to the memory subsystem, bypassing the caching subsystem.

0102Other common implementation details include design configuration of the DMA master on cacheability configuration.

0103Using the technique of this embodiment, a DMA master may be dynamically configured as either coherent or non-coherent using the following technique:

0104A software controlled multiplexer may be defined to map the DMA Master to either a coherent port on the cache coherency controller, or directly to the memory subsystem, bypassing the caching subsystem.

0105Software controlled register over-rides any hardwired cacheability settings found in the DMA Master IP, so cacheability can be altered when switching between the coherent and non-coherent configuration.

0106The cache-coherent and non-coherent interfaces to a DMA controller can affect both the ease of writing the device driver and the resulting performance. But, these tradeoffs can vary by operating system, implementation of the device driver, as well as the devices connected to the DMA master.

0107This technique allows a specific hardware/software/system implementation to be optimized at boot-time, rather than hard-wiring the DMA Master coherency decision at SoC design time.

0108While the foregoing has been with reference to a particular embodiment of the disclosure, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes in this embodiment may be made without departing from the principles and spirit of the disclosure, the scope of which is defined by the appended claims.